Now I'm telling myself that Tiger Woods probably said this in a somewhat joking manner, and we shouldn't take it so seriously. Maybe he was serious, and if so, it was a really dumb thing for him to say. He's an ambassador of sports and he should be more careful. But people say silly things all the time, we can deal accept that. I'm not really annoyed by what Woods said. It's what a commenter said that really got me going:
Let's face reality, Hockey means nothing to the US.
The NHL should shut down about 10 teams, move some to more cities in Canada and only be in proven US markets (Primarily in the North).
Maybe it could be 10 Canadian teams and 10 US teams and then each team would have a lot more skilled players.
The game could only get better.
Really? Do you honestly believe that by shrinking the sport and alienating fans in smaller markets that you will improve hockey?
I've only been a fan for a relatively short period of time and I am already very tired of hearing people say that the NHL should get rid of all the non Canadian/non norther eastern US teams. It's stupid. How can shrinking your markets, alienating establish fan bases, and reducing coverage help hockey? Maybe it will make the sport better for you personally, but it won't help it grow or gin new viewership in new or small but expanding markets.
Want to get people to take it seriously? Stop whining about the lack of coverage and start demanding better. More hockey on TV means more chances for joe/jill schmo and pals to flip past, stop, watch, and get hooked. Mentioning the local team on the news outside of the playoff will get the general awareness of a local team up and potentially draw in new fans.
Hockey fans shouldn't be ignored because of some outdated ideas regarding popular sports. A lot of Americans like hockey and there's a big chance to expand already successful smaller markets by improving local coverage. THAT will help hockey. Work on programs to help get low income kids involved in hockey. You never know what kind of talent we could find if we could find a way to extend the sport to kids who normally couldn't afford it. THAT will help hockey. Reducing the number of teams by getting rid of successful ones in smaller market areas will HURT hockey. Suggesting otherwise is ridiculous.
Edit: Californians like hockey
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2 comments:
I know I'm a little late on this, but did you hear what Mike Milbury responded with? Title of article says it all: Mike Milbury Calls Tiger Woods a 'Wuss' and a 'Meat Head'...classic.
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/06/05/milbury-tiger-wuss/
I hadn't seen that article yet. Something tells me Tiger Woods just got a lesson in keeping his mouth shut. He has every right not to watch or even like hockey, but as a man who is generally seen as an ambassador to ALL sports, he needs to be more careful.
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